Contractor hired to build federal courthouse named in 3 lawsuits

The Alabama company hired to be the primary contractor on Rockford’s $100 million federal courthouse has three federal lawsuits pending from subcontractors who say they weren’t paid on other projects.

Sean F. Driscoll

The Alabama company hired to be the primary contractor on Rockford’s $100 million federal courthouse has three federal lawsuits pending from subcontractors who say they weren’t paid on other projects.

Caddell Construction is being sued over work at two job sites: a courthouse in Little Rock, Ark., and an Army housing construction at Fort Knox, Ky. In all three cases, subcontractors claim that Caddell didn’t pay for some or all of the work they performed to the tune of more than $2 million.

Although one of Caddell’s lawyers said such suits are common in large construction projects, at least one local contractor pursuing work at the federal courthouse said the developments give her pause.

“A thinking contractor would have to weigh if it could impact doing business with this company,” said Linda Campos, owner of Campos Construction. “I certainly would be looking at it very closely. It might not change things, but I wouldn’t enter into an agreement blindly.”

Aubrey Coleman, an Atlanta attorney representing Caddell in two of the three cases pending, said the contractors who are suing are a relative few of the companies involved in the projects.

“It should not be viewed at all as any kind of black mark, if you will, against a company if they end up in disputes with a few contractors on occasion,” he said. “That Fort Knox project, there were probably 20 to 30 subcontractors working for Caddell on that job. It’s a small percentage.”

Caddell is overseeing construction at the six-story, 193,000-square-foot courthouse on the south end of downtown. The government said it wants 23 percent of the work to go to local contractors, but Caddell hasn’t made any subcontract awards public yet.

David Wilkinson, spokesman for the General Services Administration, said Caddell isn’t required to announce its subcontracted work, but he hoped to have some information to release soon.

Stenstrom Excavating, however, has equipment on the scene doing some work. Bob Stenstrom, chairman and chief executive officer of Stenstrom Cos., said knowledge of the lawsuits didn’t worry him.

“My guess is there are issues that have to get resolved. What happens is, when you can’t get them resolved within a certain time frame, the parties have to go to court to keep the whole thing alive,” he said. “We’ve done a considerable amount of checking on Caddell, so I don’t have any concerns.”

GSA issued a statement that states it won’t get involved in the suits.

“The government generally would take no action against a prime contractor when a lawsuit is filed concerning its nonpayment of debt associated with a federal project,” according to the statement. If the government could prove fraud or criminal activity, the statement continues, it could suspend the contractor’s future contracts, but no such action has been taken against Caddell.

Sean F. Driscoll can be reached at (815) 987-1410 or sdriscoll@rrstar.com.

Suits against Caddell

America Roofing
Filed: Oct. 22, 2007

Allegations: Caddell has failed to pay $321,658.31 for roofing work performed at Fort Knox, Ky., where new neighborhoods for enlisted Army personnel are being constructed.

Status: Case is in arbitration; a settlement is expected within a few days, according to Caddell’s attorneys.

Precision Walls Inc.
Filed: March 13

Allegations: Caddell failed to pay $210,771.95 for labor and materials connected with the Fort Knox project.

Status: Pending in federal court.

Lucia Inc.
Filed: Dec. 11, 2007

Allegations: Caddell failed to pay $1,686,250 for material and labor connected with construction of a federal courthouse annex in Little Rock, Ark.

Status: In arbitration

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